‘Hawks making changes for Game 2

CHICAGO Just got back from the Predators’ and Chicago Blackhawks’ practices today.

Judging by what went on during the Blackhawks’ practice, we may see quite a bit of shuffling in terms of line combinations and defensive pairings. Most significantly, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville confirmed that he’ll reunite his two star defensemen – Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. The two Canadian Olympians had played together for much of the season, but after injuries to defensemen Brian Campbell and Kim Johnsson, Quenneville separated Keith and Seabrook to give more balance to the defensive pairings. They’ll be back together on Sunday and expect them to see a load of ice time.

As far as the ‘Hawks lines go, the first three units were different Saturday than they were in Friday’s game. If things stay the same as Saturday’s practice, look for Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland and Patrick Kane to play on one of the top offensive lines, and look for Andrew Ladd, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa to form the other.

Defenseman Brian Campbell continues to practice, but will not be ready for Game Two on Sunday.

The Preds went with an optional skate, so if they are planning on any lineup changes on Sunday, they weren’t evident with only about half the team on the ice. If Nashville does make any moves, the two most likely candidates to enter the lineup would probably be defenseman Denis Grebeshkov and center Dustin Boyd. Rookie defenseman Cody Franson saw less than six minutes ice time in Game One and rookie forward Nick Spaling saw just 6:33.

Forward Patric Hornqvist was not among the players that skated on Saturday. He missed a decent chunk of the third period on Friday with Preds coach Barry Trotz described as an equipment issue. Hornqvist said Saturday that a problem with a skate kept him out about 10 minutes. That sounds kind of odd to me, considering those kinds of problems are usually fixed much quicker. But Hornqvist says he’s ready to go for Game Two.